Engine-actuated alarm.



E. AUFIEHO.

ENGINE ACTUATED ALARM.

APPLICATION nuzo OCT. 29. 1912.

1,296,603. 7 Patented Mar. 11, 1919 llllll l EMANUEL AUFIERO, or BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

ENGINE-ACTUATED ALARM.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Mar; 11, 1919,

Application filed October 29, 1912. Serial No. 728,407.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it lmown that I, EMANUEL AUFrERo, a citizen of the United States, residmg at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Engine-Actuated Alarms,

' of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to an improved alarm for use on automobiles, motor-boats, and other vehicles; the alarm being char acterized by the use of a mechanlcally agitated acoustic diaphragm. Hitherto it has been proposed to provide an automobile alarm operated by a friction pulley drlven by the fly wheel of the engine, with the expectation that the inertia of the vlbratmg diaphragm might have exerc sed a control on the speed of the pulley, independently of the speed of the fly wheel. I find in practice that the range of the engine speed is very wide, sometimes it ranges from 300 up to 2000 revolutions per second, and that the alleged control of speed through the medium of a friction drive is not apt to effect the regularity and uniformity of signal-note desirable in-the practical use of the alarm.

The alarm constituting my inventlon comprises an acoustic diaphragm, a spring or its equivalents, and means actuated by sald spring for mechanically agitating sald drahragm, the spring. being wound at Will y a continuously revolving member of the engine.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a partly sectional view of one embodiment of the alarm, and Fig. 2 is a preferred mode of attachment of the alarm to the magneto-shaft of the engine. Fig. 3 is a detail viewshowing the safety mechanism.

An acoustic diaphragm 6 is clamped between a suitable ring 5 and flange 4 carried by the casing; within said casing is mounted a rectangular frame 7 at the lower part of which is arranged shaft 11 extending out side of. said casing and supporting a sprocket wheel 12; at an angle to said shaft 11 is a shaft 8, supported by the same frame 7, and rotated b means of a worm gear 10 and worm 9 driven by shaft 11. Loosely mounted on said shaft 8 is a sleeve 16, on which is also loosely mounted a ratchet 14 adapted to engage and to positively vibrate the diaphragm 6; one end of spring 15 is fastened to said sleeve 16, and the other end rests in frictional engagement with an abutsaid spring ment 14" close to the spring barrel 15'.

The alarm is operated by a pull on cord 21, which, through lever 20, forces in engagement with a ratchet 13, the locking pin 18, by means of which the'sleeve 16 1s continuously rotated by shaft 8 and ratchet 13 secured thereto. It will be seen that as soon as said sleeve begins to rotate, the

spring 15 begins to wind up, forcing the diaphragm actuating ratchet 14: to rotate and to violently agitate the diaphragm, which will emit the signal-note. Upon'releasing the cord 21, spring 19 will force pin 18 out of engagement with the ratchet 13, and the signal-note stops.

When the duration of the signal-note is quite long and the engine is running at a very hlgh speed, it may happen that spring 15-will be fully wound before the cord 21 may be released;-in that case the end of contacting with the abutment 14 will sllp over it thus preventing further winding up of the spring with possible injury to the device, 'the inertia of the vibratin diaphragm being greater than the frictiona engagement between the spring and the abutment 14. Other forms of safety escapements may be used for the spring 15.

In Fig. 3 is shown a top view of the spring barrel 15"; one end of spring 15 is shown fastened to the sleeve 16, the other end of the spring is shown contacting with the abutment 14 close to the wall of the spring barrel. It will be seen that while the sleeve 16 moves in the direction of the arrow 28 it will force spring 15 to coil itself closer to said sleeve 16; and a point will be reached when the end of the spring engaging the abutment 14, will slip over said abutment, and will avoid transmitting any more power to the spring. I find in' practice that the signal-note emitted by the device is steady and uniform in volume and intensity, and the undesirability of vibrating the diaphra at different speeds, too slow or too high for its elasticity is thus avoided.

An engine side view is shown in Fig. 2; to the base of the engine is secured the alarm by means of bracket 25, and the alarm may be operated by the magnetoshaft 22 acting through the sprocket wheels 12 and 23 and chain 24; the magnetoshaft is usually driven by a train of gears in front of the engine inclose-d by cover 27 I have found that an acoustic diaphragm is apt to vibrate as a whole up to a certain frequency: if the frequency of the forcing impulses shall be greater than the limit of bodily movement of the diaphragm, this will divide itself in oppositely moving segments. A steel diaphragm about .025 of an inch thick, having an ,unclamped surface of 4 inches-diameter, will vibrate as a whole from one vibration per second up to I00 vibrations per second.'. If the forcing impulses should have a frequency over 400.

per second the diaphragm divides itself and vibrates in oppositely moving segments.

'I call the range of frequencies of the diaphragm w';hen vibrating as a whole the fundamental range. I find-it very desirable to use a relatively thin spring inclosed in the spring barrel; the power that can.

be stored up by the spring shall not be greater than the power required'for vibrat- 7 ing the diaphragm at a frequency within its fundamental range.

- I do not limit myself to any particular construction or arrangement of spring or springs, nor to the use exclusively of such springs for storing up ener from the high speed revolving engine sha and then driving the diaphragm actuating means at approximately constant speed.

Having now described the nature of my invention and its referred mode of operation, what I claim is:

1. In a signaling device, a prime mover, a

shaft continuousl rotated by said prime mover, and in com ination therewith an elastic diaphragm, a spring mounted loosely on said shaft, a spring barrel for said spring, one end of said spring being adapted for fr ctional engagement with the wall of said spring-barrel, means actuated by said spring for mechanically agitating said diaphragm, and means for interlocking said spring and said continuously rotating shaft for the purpose described.

2. In a s gnaling-device, the combination of a prime mover, a shaft revolved thereby, an elastic diaphragm, a rotary member for mechanically agitating said diaphragm, a

spring-element for rotating said rotary mem- .ber, a spring-barrel for said element with the engagement between said spring and said continuously revolving shaft.

4. In a signaling-apparatus, the combinaat a speed exceeding the vibratory speed of said diaphragm.

5. In a signaling-apparatus, the combination of an acoustic dia hragm, a diaphragm actuating device, a res1 ient member for actuating sa1d device, a prime mover of variable speed, means under the control of the operator for bringing said member and said prime mover into and out of operative engagement,

and automatic means to bring about disengagement between said resilient member and said actuating-devlce when sa1d prlme mover drives at a speed exceeding the vibratory speed of said diaphragm.

6. A horn or signalmg device including a diaphragm having a natural period of bodlly vibration, a cam for vibrating said diaphragm, a drive shaft adapted to be rotated independently of the rate of vibration of said diaphragm, power transmitting connections between said shaft and said cam, said connections including a movable member for controlling the stopping and starting of the cam, and slip connections for drivm the cam at arate governed by the rate 0 '-diaphragm vibration.

7. In a signaling-device, the combination of a prime mover, a shaft continuously revolved thereby, anelastic diaphragm, a rotary member for mechanically agitating said diaphragm, connections for driving 'said member from said shaft, said connections including a slip-connection, and a separate and positively-acting and controllable means operable at will, for effecting engagement be- .tween said connections and said shaft.

. of said prime mover exceeds said vibratory speed.

9. In a signaling-device, the combination of an acoustic diaphragm, a diaphragmactuating device, a prime mover of variable speed, s ip-connections between said prime mover and said actuating device adapted to slip when the speed of said prime mover exceeds a predetermined limit, and a manually lac operable positive clutch between said slipconnections and said prime mover.

10. An alarm or signaling device, com rising a diaphragm having a fairly do to period of bodily swing, an actuator for forcibly causin such vibration of the diaphragm, a diaphragm casing inclosin said actuator, a rotary member within *sai casing, and means within said casing adapted to transmit only a predetermined amount of power from said rotary member to said actuator in order to permit the vibrations of the diaphragm to exert a governing effect on the speed of said actuator.

11. In a signaling apparatus, the combina tion of an acoustic diaphragm, a diaphragm casing, a drive shaft parallel to said diaphragm, a diaphragm actuating device within said casing and encircling said shaft, a prime mover of variable speed for rotating said shaft, and slip connections between said dlaphragm actuating device and said shaft for permitting a limitation of the speed of said actuating device in accordance with the speed of the vibration of the diaphragm upon excessive speeds of said prime mover and shaft.

12. In a signaling ap aratus, the combination of an acoustic diap gm, a diaphragm casing, a drive shaft parallel to said diahra a diaphragm actuatin device withih said casing and encircling said shaft, a prime mover of variable sfipeed for. rotating said shaft, and means or automatically bringing about disengagement between said drive shaft and said actuating device when said prime mover drives at a speed exceeding the vibratory speed of said dlaphragm.

13. In a slgnalingldevice, the combination of an acoustic diap ragm, a casing secured thereto, a diaphragm-actuating device therein, a prime mover of variable speed, a rotary member driven thereby and disposed within said casing for driving said devlce, and slipconnections between said member and said device and within said casing whereby the speed of said actuating device may belim-. ited by the vibratory speed ofthe dlaphragm when the speed of said prime mover exceeds said vibratory speed.

' EMANUEL AUFIERO. Witnesses:

MICHAEL A. Ammo, Junms F. Home. 

